– I don’t know if everybody is like that but as soon as something vexes inside me I become very interested in it. And Christianity vexes me a lot inside.

                The voice belongs to Felix Andersson. He is also the voice of the perhaps most cherished pop band of the Swedish indie scene at the moment; Skansros. When the band released their debut EP Drömmen om Skansros in the autumn of 2008, the established media, rock radio and mp3-blogs got their knickers in a twist.

                Six months later and it is time for the album debut. Three sixths of the band – Felix Andersson, Per Svensson and Daniel Leanderson – sits in a pub in Gothenburg district Linnéstaden talking about Skansros’ relationship with the churchly.

                – Parts of the band attended the music college at Gothenburg’s Hvitfeldska school. And from day one it was made clear that music in Sweden to 95 percent consist of Free Church musicians, since there is so much music in the Free Churches. We met these people in school, those who know that you will end up in hell if you don’t renounce everything you’ve got and become a Christian.

                Skansros’ meeting with sectarian Christianity has, one could say, bred some of the band’s finest songs. On Skansros’ upcoming album and on the two previous EP’s, Felix Andersson moves between cathedrals, churches and local church communities like some sort of religion historian. On the opening track there is even a boy choir in the chorus.  

                – There is generally a pretty disgusting holier-than-thou attitude in that state of mind you find within sects. Like “either you are with us or against us”. So I did some silly things and posted Morrissey quotes on the notice boards instead of bible quotes.

                Morrissey indeed. The links between Skansros and the pop father from Northern England are plentiful. Parts of the band started making music as West Ham Boys Club, a The Smiths cover band, and you can still hear how Skansros is peacefully resting in Morrissey’s arms. Felix Andersson shares a falsetto with the big man from Manchester and Skansros musical reference library has a focus on British alternative pop from the 80’s.

                The band’s first studio album was released in the middle of April. An album that took some time to finish.

                – The recording took about a year but there haven’t been constant sessions over the year. You could say that we have recorded the album over shorter periods with a lot of time passing between the sessions. Alf Robertsson’s album took up a lot of studio time, says Per Svensson who plays the guitar.

                The studio we are talking about is of course Sehr Schön out on Orust (an island on the west coast). And it was here folksinger Alf Robertsson made what would become his last studio recordings.

                – He was very poorly so everything he did took an extremely long time. So we had to wait a little bit, says Felix.

                The album, which name is short and sweet – Skansros – has been recorded by Hasse Asteberg and Björn Olsson. Olsson as a producer has created a pop sound so closely connected to Gothenburg that it is almost ridiculous. But despite Skansros’ ultra Gothenburgian profile, it’s almost impossible to hear the involvement of Björn Olsson in the music.

                – Björn hasn’t produced us, he has only done the mixing for the album. Everything has been completely prepared when we’ve come to the studio. We have rehearsed everything and even though both Hasse and Björn have been able to mix freely, much of it has been self produced, says Per.

Still, by listening, it is clear that you are a band that could not have come from anywhere but Gothenburg.

    – Of course this city has affected us, since we were born and raised here. But we are no patriotic loons who stand around swinging mackerels (fish connected to Gothenburg, mainly because it is the mascot of one of the local football teams, GAIS). And it is almost the case that the pop music today could be renamed and called Gothenburg Romantic. So it has something to do with the times as well, we have let ourselves be influenced by it, says the bass player Daniel Leanderson.

                – But I think it is so strange. I started listening to The Smiths when I was 12-13 years old and Morrissey is not afraid of placing his songs on the map, define them strictly geographically. So as a songwriter, of course that has affected me. Then all of a sudden lots of people started listening to The Smiths and then Håkan Hellström had a break through. And I don’t know why that is but I would like to know, says Felix.

Your lyrics are fairly untypical, almost literary in style. The perception one might get of Skansros, and this is how you are often described, is that you are some type of intellectual literary academic band?

                – I don’t agree with that at all. Language is the most elemental thing there is, and just because you read books doesn’t mean that you are an academic, says Daniel.

                – Perhaps it’s the case that certain music in this genre has very typical lyrics, and if you break away from that the focus is put on the lyrics. I know that Felix takes writing lyrics very seriously and if you put that in contrast with other bands who don’t do that you get pigeonholed, Per adds.

But what’s your inspiration when you are writing lyrics, Felix?

                – Talking about your lyrics easily becomes so pretentious. There are so many that I look up to, but it is hard talking about them since they are so dear to me. Slas, Olle Adolphson... I like their language. And I do think that they are the ones who directly have inspired me the most.

On your first EP there was a song called Fritiof Nilsson Piraten and on that song you paraphrase the opening line of his novel Bombi Bitt och jag.

                – Yes, that’s right. I’ve discovered I like a certain type of humour. Fritiof Nilsson Piraten and Morrissey have a similar type of humour which I appreciate.

Do you strive for that then; do you want your lyrics to be perceived as funny?

                – No. Or, I mention the psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson in Ett sätt att se på saker and I find that funny. I think that line is funny, even though I mean what I’m singing.

                Erik H. Erikson’s theory, in summary, argues that the individual’s development is divided into phases which all contains a psycho-social conflict. When you are between 19 and 30 years of age, the main conflict should regard closeness versus isolation.

I get the impression that it is that conflict your album is about?

                – Exactly. That’s why I felt I had reason to mention his name on the album, because it is exactly what it’s about. It was the last song written for the album, so it felt like we tied it all together there.

Translation: Marie Lindström